She's an accountant in CT, but lives in CR most of the year, so I would assume she knows some local folks.

Are you planning to live in the property or use it purely as an investment?

I’m Mark, a new real estate investor based in San Diego, leveraging my background in AI-driven lead generation to find off-market deals.I’m currently looking for small multifamily properties (duplexes, triplexes, or quads) to rehab and house hack, to build long-term cash flow while living in the property.Outside of real estate, I’m into fitness, golf, and exploring San Diego’s best outdoor spots.

You have the ability to sell while limiting your capital gains tax because you lived in 2 of the last 5 years. 

I have spent the last few years working in the Pre-Fab ADU space and now working with a company called Live Near Friends and help people buy real estate with the purpose of living closer to the people they care about. 

Thank you Eric.In addition to the rental properties, my wife and I have a paid off house, paid off car, and about $1.4m in retirement accounts, brokerages, and savings.We live in a HCOL area and our expenses are $9.5k per month even though we live pretty modestly.I set out initially to have real estate pay for at least some of my expenses in order to give me more freedom and financial security.Is your wife quitting too? 

This seems to follow the general overall trend of lower cost areas winning at the expense of those with a high costs of living.

Quote from @Unal Baris Kancoglu: I bought my first multi-family home in 2024, and I am living in it.

If you are buying a home to live in - I would suggest finding a good realtor in your market.

The local who lives there but commutes 30-60 min to another community because they can’t find a job to support their family in their town.That same local knows that a 4plex would be great on that lot that’s been vacant for 20 years and that there are at least 4 families who could benefit greatly from that development.That local knows that Ryan’s plumbing and Katie’s electrical companies that service 75% of the town really needs a new flex space to use as a shop, storage, and parking for their business so that they aren’t working out of their garage and can hire a couple of locals to work with them at the office and in the field.Development is different in our small towns but if locals aren’t the ones doing it, and developers aren’t coming, what happens to our kids futures?